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Sunday, December 8, 2002 |
Slashdot | "Ask Slashdot" - Updating Quickbooks Forces Online Membership? garyebickford asks: "I've been using Quickbooks 2001 for a long time, sending out invoices via email. A couple of months ago it asked if I wanted to do an online update - these occurred occasionally and I agreed. There was no information regarding what the update would do, although IIRC there was some mention of 'new features' and 'improvements'. Since that time, it is now impossible to either fax or email an invoice without signing up for Quickbook's 'Online Business Member' program since it appears to use their own mail server. Membership is free for now, but the required click-agreement forces me to agree in advance to any future fees! I have no interest in letting Intuit know about my invoices and other financial information. As a result, this software is essentially useless and I must find a new accounting package. I've looked at various OSS packages but haven't found one that has developed far enough to use in this way. But there are many out there and I haven't kept up to date, so maybe someone else out there can suggest something. I'd prefer using it on Linux, of course. I'd also be interested if this loss of functionality would be sufficient to consider a class action suit to recover costs of conversion." --- The issue at hand is that commercial software has started to force consumers to fall into such schemes to maintain features that they already had. Today it is Quickbooks, but what about tomorrow? [Privacy Digest]
10:03:21 PM 
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Corporate Assault on Personal Property and the Private Sphere. Electronic Frontier Foundation: Johansen's prosecution marks the first time the Norwegian government has attempted to punish individuals for accessing their own property (i.e. watching DVDs under Linux). [via Cory Doctorow via Tesugen.com] [Jinn of Quality and Risk]
Perhaps it's just me, but more and more I am getting the sense that something is wrong with how we are collectively responding to rapid information transfer enabled by the Internet. In fact, I am starting to think that as a group, we are increasingly exhibiting signs of manic depression.
We spent the 5+ years between 95 and 00 in a manic state of unbounded optimism. Our belief in technology and its ability to transform society knew no bounds. We talked ourselves into a stock bubble on the grounds that the companies we were rewarding with huge valuations were beyond the limitations of economics and sound business practice.
Just as quickly as that period wound down, we are plunged into depressive state of dark fear and loathing. Our belief in our vulnerability knows no bounds. In response, we are in the process of allowing legislation that will strip away most privacy rights, we have allowed the CIA to kill American's abroad on the suspicion of terrorist activity, and we are about to make a strategic shift to post over 100,000 troops in the Middle East for the next decade.
If this is the start of a group mind (enabled by rapid information transfer), it's clear to me that it is in trouble. It needs help. It needs to find a new set of feedback mechanisms that slow it down and reign in the excesses. A new level of complexity. Neither the unbounded optimism of the late nineties nor deep depression of the start of this century is founded on fact, reason, or a firm grasp of reality. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
9:59:39 PM
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Grassroots eBook Library. Frank McPherson was kind enough to send me a link to the new KnowBetter.com Ebook Lending Library.
"Since we began serving the ebook commuity in 1999, we've listened to thousands of e-readers and would-be e-readers share their complaints about what's wrong with the current state of the industry. The #1 complaint we've received is that ebook content is too expensive....
We've created the KnowBetter eBook Lending Library to help overcome the high cost of content. We're calling it our "Grand Experiment" because we're putting our money where ebook readers' mouths are. We're bypassing the chicken-and-egg dilemma by taking the plunge and buying a full collection of ebooks that you can borrow and read on your computer or PDA. Currently, we've got over 1,100 titles and will continue to add to that number.
The KnowBetter Lending Library is a first-of-its-kind service that allows you to check out ebooks, much as you would from a regular library. The only difference is you don't have to return the ebook. It's checked back in automatically (i.e., no overdue fines)....
Our service isn't tied to a particular ebook device or platform. Instead, it uses the free Mobipocket ebook reader software which can run on your desktop, laptop, Palm, Pocket PC, or other PDA (Read more about Mobipocket)....
Right now, for just $19.95, you can borrow and read our ebooks for an entire year! So, for less than the typical cost of a single new hardcover book, you can have full access to our ever-expanding collection of titles... 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Depending on how much you read, our library could save you hundreds of dollars each year. Even if you only read a couple of books a year, our library can still save you money.
Try out the service free to see if you like it. Then, when you're ready, pay your dues (we all gotta' do it sometime) of just $19.95 for an entire year and get access to our full collection."
I have a lot of questions about how this service works (circulation and expiration for starters), but my mind is still fuzzy from the lingering cold and accompanying medication. In fact, I think I'm going back to sleep again. See you tomorrow (I hope). [The Shifted Librarian]
9:57:32 PM
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In Japan, Cell Phone-Cameras Click with the Public
"Mobile phones with built-in digital cameras are taking Japan by storm and, amid a proliferation of new uses, bolstering Japan's reputation as the most advanced and creative cell-phone market in the world. It is a phenomenon likely to be repeated in the United States, where picture phones are just starting to appear in advertisements....
Finding new uses for the pictures has become something of a treasure hunt here. Buyers at Tokyo's world famous Tsukiji fish market's auction beam shots of $15,000 frozen tuna to sushi chefs across Japan before placing their bids. The Osaka police now get dozens of cell-phone photos a month from concerned citizens of crime scenes, stolen cars and suspects. And video microscope firm Scalar Corp. offers free attachments so customers can send skin and scalp photographs to beauty centers for an automated analysis.
Perhaps inevitably, the new technology has been tapped for matters of the heart. People are using the pictures as digital alibis, sending previously taken shots of themselves at work to a husband or wife back home, when in reality they're off having an affair.
'One problem is making sure you're wearing the same clothes when you get home that you wore in the picture,' says Atsushi Baba, a systems engineer.
Matchmakers have embraced the technology as 'ingles wanted' Web sites proliferate, allowing people to study cell-phone photos online before deciding to take the next step. Magazine articles help the self-conscious with tips on how to look your best in a thumbnail frame....
Men and women tend to use phone-equipped cameras differently, some say. Men take more shots of scenery, their cars, their girlfriends, with a particular emphasis on external objects, says Naoki Nakayama, editor of "J-Phone Sha-mail Hearts" magazine. Women, meanwhile, tend to take more pictures of themselves, their hairstyles, how they look in new clothes, with emphasis on the internal and the psychological, he adds." [LA Times, via Smart Mobs] [The Shifted Librarian]
9:41:20 PM
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Usable Libraries. Library-usability.org is a great idea, but I wish it had an RSS feed in order to make it more usable in my news aggregator. ;-)
"library-usability.org is dedicated to the idea that libraries are critical to our communities. But to help people meet their needs, libraries must be usable in every facet of their service. Usability is about more than just software. It's about helping people accomplish their goals, and library usability asks: what can we do to help people in the way we operate, in the way we publish, in the way we deliver service, and in the way we use technology? " [via Library Stuff] [The Shifted Librarian]
9:38:49 PM
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Learning the Terminal in Jaguar, Part 1
O'Reilly Mac OS X command line guru Chris Stone is back with another series to help you get comfy with Jaguar's Terminal app. He begins by showing you what's where, and what to do with it once you're there.
9:04:36 AM
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Copyright is Unconstitutional!
I just read a wonderful article by Jed Rubenfeld: The Freedom of Imagination: Copyright[base ']s Constitutionality [via Felten].
Imagine a country where reciting a poem in public could get you thrown in jail, the article suggests. You live in that country. Copyright law, of course, prevents public performance of a copyrighted work like a poem.
The article convincingly argues that copyright[base ']s restriction on derivative works is a clear violation of the First Amendment. It shoots down the five common arguments to the contrary:
[apple] [base "]Copyright is an enumerated power, so it is immune from the bill of rights.[per thou] Rights trump powers, not vice versa. Outlawing interstate Bible sales would be unconstitutional, even though interstate commerce is an enumerated power.
[apple] [base "]Copyright only regulates the expression, not the idea.[per thou] The idea behind [base "]Fuck The Draft[per thou] can also be expressed in different ways, but the court ruled that the expression (even though it used profanity when it was unnecessary to communicate the idea) was protected.
[apple] [base "]Fair use prevents copyright from violating the First Amendment.[per thou] Fair use does exactly the opposite. A law prohibiting all speech except that criticizing the government would clearly be unconstitutional, but fair use only protects derivative works that parody the original (and some other exceptions).
[apple] [base "]Copyright creates more speech overall, so it is in the First Amendment[base ']s interest.[per thou] We don[base ']t make First Amendment judgements on these terms. Banning books creates more speech (from the uproar about the ban) but that[base ']s no excuse to ban books.
[apple] [base "]Copyright is just another form of property. You have no First Amendment right to trample on my property.[per thou] Trampling on your property is illegal not for expressive reasons but for practical ones. (It[base ']s not allowed even when it[base ']s not expressive.) Infringing on your copyright is aimed at preventing certain forms of expression. Were you to do the same infringing activity (say, publishing a book) but with different content, it would be permitted.
The author goes on to suggest a form of copyright that would be constitutionally-permissible. Instead of preventing or punishing those who express derivative works, it could require that they pay a portion of their profits to the author. This wouldn[base ']t prevent anyone speaking (by definition, profit is a gain; taking it away would make you no worse off than if you had never done the thing at all) and would allow people to give away modified works for free, but would give authors what many feel is a just return for their work.
In this world, anyone could make Harry Potter into a movie or stage show, as long as they paid J. K. Rowling a portion of the money the make. Different adaptations and interpretation of the works would flourish; the public would get a chance to experience all sorts of new creative expression, here-to-fore impossible. This makes sound policy sense to me: the public gets the right to express it self, and creators of intellectual works get paid. But, as the author points out, it[base ']s irrelevant what you think of it as policy; it[base ']s required by our Constitution.
Finally, the author presents a unified theory of the First Amendment: it protects the freedom to imagine, express what you[base ']ve imagined, and listen to that expression. It doesn[base ']t protect the right to misrepresent what you[base ']ve imagined as fact (thus libel, perjury, and false advertising laws), nor does it protect the right to act out your imagination (you can[base ']t break someone[base ']s nose to express what you imagine a broken nose feels like). However, it does protect the freedom to imagine alternate beliefs (thus freedom of religion) or alternate governments (thus petitioning for a redress of grievances).
Back to the subject of copyright, it doesn[base ']t protect those who copy others works verbatim (that requires no imagination) but it does protect those who perform it, rework it, or express it [~] those who add their own spark of creativity to that which has come before. It[base ']s time for copyright law to stop suffocating the resulting flame and let it grow, as the First Amendment requires.
[I[base ']m sure I cannot do justice to the cogent and well-expressed arguments of this fifty-page paper, but I hope I[base ']ve given you some idea of them. If you[base ']re interested, I recommend you read it for yourself.]
8:56:28 AM
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RFID Journal. The Journal was launched on March 1, 2002, in the belief that radio frequency identification, or RFID, is poised for a major breakthrough that will make it possible to put microchips with a unique serial number on anything from automobile drive trains to bars of soap. Some think that's far-fetched. We think it's not far off. The folks at the Auto-ID Center are working with Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and other global companies to create low-cost RF tags and readers and an Internet-like infrastructure for tracking goods as they flow through the supply chain. We think their goal of replacing barcodes with RF tags is not only achievable but inevitable. [Privacy Digest]
8:34:38 AM
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This seems to be a rather excessive measure to cut down on spam and maintain some privacy, and, hey, if it works for you...
Talk to the hand. The whitelisting begins. I haven't communicated with x@y.com in quite some time. Yesterday I sent him (and a number of others) a message that likely would have interested him. Here's the reply:
... [Jon's Radio]
8:32:46 AM
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RFID Journal. Gillete to purchase 500 m RFIDs to tag products. Wow. Embedded Radio IDs are going mainstream. From my friend John Smart's Accelerating Times newsletter:
Powerful acceleration of this technology in the last year... A Hitachi chip small enough to place into paper money. Sub-ten cent chips, sub-$100 scanners. Transmission ranges up to 20 feet. MIT's Auto-ID center is busily building out a Local Positioning System (LPS) for everything. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
8:26:37 AM
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How true. Were it not for the Big 12 Championship Game, and a couple of old movies on last night, we'd of headed for Blockbuster or arm wrestled for who was going to use the computer.
Jonathan Peterson: " The quality of "amateur" content is exploding at the same time that Big Media companies are going through one of their all-time lows in music and television creativity. No wonder we're spending more time with our PCs that we are with our TVs." [via instapundit] [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]
8:21:45 AM
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© Copyright 2002 Paul W. Swansen.
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